TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Since the moment Moritz Seider entered the NHL, he has been a constant in the Detroit Red Wings lineup.
The 6-foot-3 defenseman has begun his career with a 246-game iron-man streak: playing in every single game for three straight seasons and averaging nearly 23 minutes a night in doing so. He’s a huge piece of the Red Wings’ team, present and future.
But when the team opened training camp Thursday, it was Seider’s absence casting a long shadow over the event — that is, until just after the day’s final practice, when the Red Wings announced a seven-year extension with their franchise blueliner. The deal comes just days after Detroit signed young forward pillar Lucas Raymond to an eight-year extension.
“Mo’s such a good defender, great defenseman,” forward Patrick Kane said shortly after the Seider contract was announced. “He’s so important playing against top lines every night, obviously he’s got a lot of offensive weapons as well, can be dynamic on the power play, can produce offensively from the back end, which is huge.”
With that final piece of business squared away, here’s what stood out on the first day of training camp.
The lines and pairs
An NHL team’s lines are constantly changing through the course of a season, so it’s always best not to overreact to them — especially at training camp.
But I’m always curious how a team opens camp, because I think it’s a good window into their first thoughts on how the lineup could be assembled.
Thursday, the Red Wings’ NHL forward lines looked like this:
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Vladimir Tarasenko – J.T. Compher – Patrick Kane
Michael Rasmussen – Andrew Copp – Christian Fischer
Jonatan Berggren – Joe Veleno – Tyler Motte
Their defense pairings looked like this:
Ben Chiarot – Justin Holl
Simon Edvinsson – Jeff Petry
Olli Määttä – Erik Gustafsson
Albert Johansson – Brogan Rafferty
Plug the absent Seider in next to Chiarot on the top pair and slot Holl in for Rafferty, and you have essentially a chalk lineup — the exact combinations we projected after free agency in July.
So, no real surprises. But there were two things I found notable: Detroit keeping the DeBrincat-Larkin-Raymond line together, rather than swapping Raymond for Kane, and the Red Wings sticking with Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer after the trio clicked so well together last season.
The Red Wings will surely do some experimenting, potentially as soon as Friday, to get different looks at players. But it looks like their first impulse was to stick with what’s worked for them going in.
Defensive improvement a focus
It’s no secret the Red Wings lost a lot of offensive pieces this summer. Between David Perron, Robby Fabbri, Daniel Sprong, Shayne Gostisbhere and Jake Walman, that’s 75 goals from last season out the door.
Detroit will try to replace that lost offense through contributions from new signings Vladimir Tarasenko, Tyler Motte and Erik Gustafsson, and through internal promotions for Jonatan Berggren and Simon Edvinsson, but it’s going to be a tall task. One obvious way to counteract that, though, is by keeping more pucks out of the net — something the Red Wings realistically needed to focus on anyway after allowing the ninth-most goals in the league last season.
“That’s obviously been a focus today at Day 1 of camp is the defensive side,” Larkin said. “And some key adjustments — minor adjustments, but I think they’re going to be really key — so we can be better boxing out in front of our net and make quicker stops and exit quicker, so then we can play more offense.
“I think that’s what all the best defensive teams in the league (do): the hard nights, their big, strong defensemen in the corner, that cross-check, and make it hard on the forwards. We’re trying to adopt that, and trying to build that into our game throughout camp.”
Head coach Derek Lalonde’s message to open camp was “we want to build off where we were last year, but we need more,” he said, and the emphasis in the practice was on some of those areas, starting with breakouts and defensive zone habits, and moving into the neutral zone.
“I liked where we were at,” Lalonde said. “Pretty comfortable with how well the structure looked towards the second half of the practice, which is a little exciting for a coach. But just Day 1.”
That’s not to say the Red Wings aren’t still thinking about offense, of course. It’s just a matter of recognizing where the big improvements are most needed.
“Appreciated the goals last year, we’ll need those goals again this year,” Lalonde said. “You need goals to be successful in this league. But again, I just think an emphasis, if we want to keep pushing this forward, I think we need to do a better job. Obviously finishing in the bottom half of the league in goals against, not a recipe for success.”
Kane after a full summer of training
One of the ways Detroit could help replace some of those lost goals is with a full year of Kane, who played 50 games last season after signing with the Red Wings midseason.
And the big narrative this year is that Kane might even have another level to reach this season after a full summer of full training as opposed to recovering from surgery like last year.
It’s too early to give a true verdict, of course, but Kane certainly looked smooth and slippery out there in drills.
“I’ve been skating all summer, so I’ve definitely noticed a difference from last summer to this summer,” Kane said. “Obviously being in training camp this year I think is going to be really beneficial for me as well. I feel like I’m in a good spot. Definitely happy with where I’m at.”
Kane is one of the elite offensive minds of his generation and was already able to produce at a high level right off the recovery. If he can add anything more to that, it would be a coup for the Red Wings.
Really, though, getting Kane back was a victory in itself for the Red Wings. Kane chalked up his decision to stay in part to “how close we were last year,” saying when he was looking back on the season there were “some great moments for me personally and for the team,” and that “the excitement around the team, the way I fit in for the team, my role and what was expected of me here” were all things he enjoyed.
In the end, Kane returned on a one-year deal, even though after last season it sounded like term might be his priority.
“Yeah, you never really know,” Kane said. “You think you know what you want, and then when it comes down to it, especially with what I’ve been through the past 18 months to two years — with being in Chicago for so long, going to New York, having the surgery, rehabbing in Toronto, and then picking a team and being in Detroit for half the year — a year is going to feel like a long time for me, kind of, with what I’ve been through the last little bit.”
And even on another one-year deal, Kane certainly seems to be embracing Detroit.
“The last couple years, you still in some respects feel like you’re a Blackhawk,” Kane said. “Even when you go to New York, and last year when I was in Detroit, there’s still that sense that you’re still somewhat of a Blackhawk. And for me now, I think the page is officially turned. It’s nice to just be here in Detroit, build on what I was able to do last year and what the team was able to do, and be a Red Wing. And I definitely feel like one now.”
Big year for Berggren
Beyond Seider and Raymond, the Red Wings did have one more restricted free agent sign just before camp: 24-year-old winger Jonatan Berggren.
Berggren has had his ups and downs in the Red Wings system, playing 67 games for the team in 2022-23, but just 12 in the 2023-24 season, with Lalonde saying he “just got caught in our organization last year with a lot of like players that were probably ahead of him at the National Hockey League level.”
Now, though, with players such as Sprong and Fabbri gone, Berggren has his best opportunity yet to become a full-time contributor for the Red Wings. Lalonde said Berggren “looks leaner, he looks like he’s got a little more pop” and said “he’s done his work” this summer, which is a good start. He opened on what was effectively the fourth line Thursday, next to Joe Veleno and Tyler Motte.
Certainly, there will be some who want to see Berggren and his impressive offensive creativity higher in the lineup right off the bat. That may come in time, as playing with the puck is the clear cut strength of his game.
But Berggren will also have to show he can be just a bit more responsible and fit with the same two-way emphasis Lalonde is giving the team as a whole.
“He’s got a great opportunity, and I think we were very clear in our messaging this summer, he understood it,” Lalonde said.
That messaging won’t be a surprise, nor is it unique to Berggren: “Not giving up easy offense, not cheating for offense. He can create offense by playing the right way. He’s talented enough. His offensive IQ is great. It’s his responsibility and (having) a little more of a two-way game.”
And Berggren, to his credit, seems to be embracing it. He watched some clips of other players this summer, seeing how they play in the defensive zone, looking to be “a player they can trust.” He said he watched “a lot” but focused on smaller, fast players like him, specifically referencing Sidney Crosby.
“It helped me a lot and prepared for this season,” Berggren said.
It’s a big year for Berggren, who is signed for one season at $825,000. He has an opportunity to up that number on his next deal, though, if he can do just what he said: become a player coaches trust enough to put on the ice consistently.
If he can do that, his offensive abilities should translate to production, which usually bodes well for a contract.
(Top photo of Jonatan Berggren: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
